


Breakable

by Bearfootscar



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Deep Roads, F/M, Ficlet, legacy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-11
Updated: 2013-03-11
Packaged: 2017-12-05 00:58:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/717050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bearfootscar/pseuds/Bearfootscar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taking place during the events of Legacy, Hawke meets her breaking point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breakable

It was when her fingers twitched that she gave it away. Twitching as though ready to grasp her staff at a breath’s notice, as though caution and anxiety had intermingled to form something hard and brittle in her throat, something that rattled as she breathed. This unnerved him. Hawke was usually so confident as she led them about the streets of Kirkwall or the paths of the Wounded Coast, but now... she had changed since last they’d braved these damnable Deep Roads together. As they would round a corner, she’d hesitate, catch her breath, and the very tips of her fingers would tremble as they made their way back toward her staff. Only once the tunnel was clear would she seem to breathe again. But the hand tremors had not eased since the first mention of her father.

  
He thought perhaps he’d imagined it until she full on halted at the beginning of a dauntingly long stretch of the road. Without words, just stopped mid stride and rooted herself firmly. Their companions shuffled uneasily, but said nothing. Even Varric and the Mage were uncannily reserved. Both muttered and wandered a bit away leaving the two of them more or less alone in the tunnel. Fenris hated these moments, always preferring to keep moving past his insecurities or weaknesses, push them down into his gut and drown them in Aggregio alone in the manor, but Hawke was different. For her, she twitched.

  
He studied her hand movements for a few moments before he resolved that it was up to him to set her about moving again. He glanced quickly over his shoulder to ensure they were still alone, and moved silently to her side. Her twitching hand did not respond to his presence, which unnerved him even further. She usually was so receptive, welcoming to even his tinnies gestures...yes, this was...different than usual.

  
He was searching for words when she uttered almost inaudibly, “Fenris....I....I can’t...” And her eyes were screaming in the darkness, pleading with the world to just stop. The madness, the chaos, the dark and the dank and the din to just stop because she could no longer face it. And without another check of privacy, Fenris slid his gauntleted hand over hers and realized just how small her quivering hand felt in his grasp.

  
“Thank you for asking me to come along again, Hawke.” He squeezed her hand, gently tightening until the twitching eased just a bit. “I just...am pleased. To see you. That’s all.”  
Her chin turned ever so slightly towards him, the movement allowing some water to escape at the corners. He cocked his head and the corners of his mouth turned up a bit while her eyes searched his. “I’m here,” he offered. The hand in his flexed and her fingers laced with his as she let out a breath. Her first, her realized.

  
And the exhalation seemed to release her from the road. She nodded ever so slightly without breaking his gaze. He took a tentative step forward, and as she followed his lead, he knew they could now continue. Varric and Anders gathered up their things and followed in step, and although he felt their eyes upon them, he held fast to her hand. She had always been their rock, but even stone cracks under enough duress. _Let me be your mortar_ , his eyes asked her. Another nearly imperceptible nod, a cathartic sigh, and her grip tightened around his hand as they set out again.


End file.
